Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1887-12-23


served his son; lit made such n bcastly hash !
of the table
"You were afraid | would notice ~ re-
reatcd Mr.. Nicholson. "And, pray, what
may that mean"
"That | was thief, sir" returned Alex
ander. IL took all the money in case the
servants should get hold of il; and here is the
change and n note of my expenditure You
were gone to bed. you see, and did not feel
at liberty to knock you up; but think when
YOU have heard the circumstances you will
do me Justice The fact is | have reason to
believe there has been some dreadful error
about my brother John; the sooner it can be
cleared up the better for all parties it was a
piece of business, strand so | took it, and
decided on my own responsibility, to send
telegram to San Francisco. Thunks TO my
quickness we may hear tonight. There APP
pears to be no doubt sir, that John has been
abominahly used"
"When did this take place. asked the
father
Last night, sir, after you were asleep"
was the reply.
otis most extraordinary" said Mr. Mich
olson. ''Do you mean to say you have been
out all night,'
"All night, as you say, sir l have been
to the telegraph and the police office, and
Mr. Macewcns. Oh, l had my hands full"
said Alexander.
every Irregular" said the father. "You
think of no one but yourself
81 do not see that / have much to gain in
bringing back my elder brother returned
Alexander, shrewdly.
The answer pleased the old man. He smiled.
"Well, we'll will 80 into this after break
fact =" said he.
I'm sorry about the table," said the son.
The table is a small matter; / think no
thing of that" said the father.
Its another example" continued the son,
''of the awkwartlness of man having no
money Of his own. If I had proper allow
anrc, like other fellows of my age, this would
have been quite unnecessary"
"a proper Allowance repeated his father
in tones of blightng sarcasm, for the ex-
preston was not new to him. 81 have never
grudged you money for any proper purpose"
"No doubt, no doubt" said Alexander,
''but then you see you ar'n't always on the
spot to have the thing explained to you
Last night, for instance
''You could have Weakened me last night"
! interrupted his father
"Was it not some similar affair that first
got John into a mess:' asked the son, skill
fully evading the point.
But the father was not loss adroit "And
pray, sir, how did you come and go out of
the houseN he asked
81 forgot to lock the door, it seems" re-
piled Alexander.
81 have had cause to complain of that too
often" said Mr.. Nicholson. But still [ do
not understand Did you keep the servants
upi"
az propose to go into all that at length after
breakfast returned Alexander. There is
1hc half hour going: we must not keep Miss
Mackenzie waiting"
And greatly daring. he opened the door.
Even Alexander, who, it must have been
| perceived, was ON terms of comparative free
dom with his parent; even Alexander had
never before dared TO cut short an interview
in this high handed fashion. But the truth
is the very mass of his sons delinQuenceS
daunted the old gentleman. He was like the
man with the cart of applcS-ths was be
yond him. That Alexander should have
spoiled his table. taken his money. stayed out
all night and then coolly acknowledged al
was something undreamed of in the Nichol
sonan philosophy and transcribed comment
The return of the change, which the old gen
tleman still carried in his hand, had been {
feature of imposing impudencc; it had dealt
him staggering blow. Then there wxS The
reference to Johns original flight. subjec
which he always kept resolutelY curtained il
his own mind, for he was a man who lovet
to have made no mistakes and when b,
fe;trcd he might have made one kept thu
papers sealed. Ia view of all these surprise
and reminders, and of his sons composed a.C
masterful demeanOr, there began To creep OF
Mr.. Nicholson a sickly misgiviug. He seemec
Il a a / in,
he might come to regret it. The Young man
besides, as he had pointed out himself wa
playing generous par, And ii wrong haC
been done-and done to one who was, afto
and in spite of all, a Nicholson-it shoul'
certainly be righted.
All things considered, monstrous as it wa
to be cut short in his inquiries. the old gen
tleman submitted, pocbetcd tue change ant
followed his son into the dining room. Dur
ing these few steps he once more mental
revolted, and once more, and tins tim
finally, laid down his arms, stIll, snal
voice in his bosom having informed hr
automatically of piece of news-that he wa
afraid of Alexander. The strange thing wa
that he was pleased to I've afraid.of him. ii
was proud of his son; he might be proud c
him; the boy had character and grit, an
= knew what he was doing.
These were his reflections as he turned th
| corner of the dining room door Miss MAJ
kenzie was in the place of honor, ccnjurin
with tea pot and coy; and, behold! thoI
was another person preSent-a large, portlI
, whiskered man of n very comfortable and n
spectacle air, who now rose from his seat an
came forward, holding out his hand.
"Good morning, father said he,
OF the contention of feeling that ran hig
+ in Mr. Ncholson's starchod bosom, no on
r ward sign was visible nor did lie delay Ion
to make choice of conduct. Yet in that il
- teIval he had reviewed great field Of pos
bilities both past and future; whether it WI
/ possible he had not been perfectly wise in h
treatment of John; whether II was possib
p; that John was innocent; whether, if
= turned John out second time, rs his on
;, ragged authority suggested, it WAS possible
h avoid scandal; and whether, if he went
= that extremity, 1t was possible that Ale
u andcr might rebel
/ "Hum!' said Mr.. Nicholson, and pat h
o hand, limp and dead, into Johns,